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"Dubai International Capital LLC (DIC), the private equity firm owned by Dubai Holding has completed exits from most of its Middle East private equity investments delivering robust returns, said Maissan Al Maskati, Managing Director — Private Equity of DIC.
Speaking to Gulf News in an interview Al Maskati said the recent sale of its shares in luxury-lifestyle retailer Rivoli Group nearly completes the regional investment cycle.
DIC’s stake in Rivoli was acquired by Swatch Group for an undisclosed sum earlier this month. While DIC did not disclose the selling price, bankers estimate the deal around $110 million (Dh367 million) while the total value of its Middle East exits so far is estimated to be close to $900 million.
“With the sale of our stake in Rivoli, we have exited all our Middle East private equity positions in our portfolio with the exception of a hotel investment in Bahrain. Our regional growth equity portfolio has generated a realised net internal rate of return (IRR) in excess of 15 per cent and nearly 2 times multiple from the money we deployed since our launch in 2005,” Al Maskati."

DUBAI, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Shares in Dubai interior furnishing firm Depa surged to a near two-week high on Sunday because of bets that builder Arabtec might increase its stake in the firm. Qatar's market fell on plans for its first IPO since 2010.

Arabtec on Sunday said it was looking for investments, partnerships and acquisitions. It did not name potential targets but already owns a 24 percent stake in Depa, which it bought late in 2012.

Depa shares jumped 8.4 percent to their highest level since Dec. 9.

"Arabtec has more board members now on Depa - which gives an indication to the market of its interest in recapitalising and restructuring the company to benefit from the recovery in the real estate sector," said Marwan Shurrab, fund manager and head of trading at Vision Investments."

"Morgan Stanley has sold the majority of its global physical oil trading operations to Russian state-run oil major Rosneft, becoming the latest Wall Street firm to dispose of a major part of its commodity business.

The deal represents a bold move into the U.S. market by Russia's top oil producer, which is headed by Igor Sechin, a powerful ally of President Vladimir Putin. The Russian state owns almost 70 percent of Rosneft.

The deal includes more than 100 traders and shipping schedulers in London, New York and Singapore, more than $1 billion worth of oil, and the bank's 49 percent stake in tanker company Heidmar.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Morgan Stanley said it was not expected to have a significant impact on its financial results.

The purchase will not include Morgan Stanley's oil storage, pipeline and terminal firm, TransMontaigne, which may help avoid significant scrutiny of the deal in Washington."

"Mesaieed Petrochemical Holding Co, a unit of state-owned energy giant Qatar Petroleum, will conduct a 3.2 billion riyal ($880 million) initial public offer of its shares in the local market in January, the finance minister said on Sunday.

It will be the first IPO on Qatar's stock market, which was hit hard by the global financial crisis, since 2010.

The IPO will only be open to Qatari citizens. It will be conducted between Dec. 31 and Jan. 21, and trading in the shares is expected to start in February, Ali Shareef al-Emadi told a press conference announcing the offering.

The offer price of the shares will be 10 riyals each, and the IPO will comprise 26 percent of the company."

"Dubai’s real estate market will continue to be the world’s fasting growing in terms of house prices next year, according to agents Knight Frank, with prices increasing by 10-15 per cent. Admittedly this will be lower than the 20-30 per cent house price increases of 2013 but it will still be enough to set Dubai ahead of the rest of the global pack.

For next year the gradual rise in global interest rates is expected to impact on real estate markets around the world. After Dubai house prices will be up five to 10 per cent in Beijing, Shanghai, Sydney and Paris, while prices in London will improve by less than five per cent and New York remain unchanged, says Knight Frank."

"Trade unions, human rights activists and politicians have called for urgent labour reforms to protect the thousands of migrant workers building a complex of five-star hotels and museums on Saadiyat Island in the United Arab Emirates, including a new Louvre and the world's largest Guggenheim.

The International Trade Union Confederation and art activism group Gulf Labor have urged the western institutions involved in the project, including the British Museum, to take active steps to address the workers' welfare and press the UAE government to improve their conditions.

The calls come as an Observer investigation found evidence that the emirate's tourism development and investment company (TDIC), which runs Saadiyat, is failing to uphold its own employment policies, with workers left destitute, confined to their quarters and sent home for taking strike action. Migrant labourers building New York University's Abu Dhabi campus on the island were found to be suffering even worse mistreatment."